Joan Detz Speaker Services

In a difficult economy, it’s important to know your professional options.  I’ll be offering a series of career workshops … all held on Saturdays, so you can boost your professional clout without losing time from your regular work week. 

The Philadelphia workshop location is an easy commute from both NYC and DC.  Even if you’re flying in from the West Coast, you can do other business while you’re in the area.  Our workshop is just minutes from Amtrak’s 30th Street Station.

Coming up:

Saturday, October 9:  “How to Break into Freelance Writing:  Using Bylines to Build Your Career”

Saturday, January 15, 2011:  “The Business of Six-Figure Speechwriting:  How to Succeed … on Staff, or Freelance”

Learn more at www.joandetz.com

Or email anytime with specific questions.  I’ll be glad to help you choose the best speechwriting workshop for your professional goals.

There’s still time to sign up for NAGC’s terrific Communications School (May 17-19, Bethesda, MD).  Some of the topics:

Web Writing ROI:  Making the Business Case for Good Content

A Market You Can’t Miss:  People with Disabilities

Media Relations by the Numbers 

Twitter: It’s Not Just for Ashton Kutcher Anymore

Harnessing the Power of Social Media for Your Agency

Writing E-newsletters that Work

Shaken, not Stirred: A recipe for Work-Life Balance

Ad Networks.  What are they?  How to use them

Good Design is Good Communication

Are You Ready for Congress?  Preparing to Testify

I’ve volunteered to teach a session:  “How to Write Career-Boosting Speeches.”  Please stop by!

For more information:  www.nagconline.org

Are you writing speeches to address retirees?  Or offering employees a new fitness benefit?  Or addressing on-the-job safety issues?  Perhaps you can tie into one of these themes: 

Older Americans Month

National Physical Fitness Month

Better Sleep Month

National Good Car Keeping Month

World Law & Justice Week

Asian/Pacific Heritage Week

Kiwanis Prayer Week

World Trade Week

Native American Day

World Telecommunication Day

International Museum Day

Armed Forces Day

Loyalty Day

Weights & Measures Day

Looking for international speechwriting assignments?  Fine-tune your resume to indicate your international interests and experiences.

When you attended college, did you spend a year studying at a university in Europe?  Put that on your resume.

Are you taking an “international etiquette” class?  Do you spend every July visiting relatives in Brazil?  Did you interview Japanese executives for a freelance article?  Note it on your resume.

It all counts.  And it all works to your advantage in the international speechwriting marketplace.

On Saturday, in Philadelphia, I taught “The Business of Six-Figure Speechwriting:  How to Succeed … On Staff, or Freelance.”

Several of the participants in this speechwriting seminar asked me how to attract international assignments.  My starting advice?  Make sure your resume notes any foreign language skills you might have. 

Have you forgotten your college French/German/etc?  Consider taking one or two semesters to brush-up your old skills. 

You don’t need fluency!  No organization expects you to be able to write a speech in a foreign language … but conversational skills are a huge plus.  If you can exchange pleasantries with with your client in Japanese or Spanish or any other language … well, that’s a career advantage.  Make the most of it.

Mark your calendars:  I’ll  hold my next “Business of Six-Figure Speechwriting” seminar on Saturday, January 15, 2011 (again, in Philadelphia). 

Consider attending the NRECA conference in Kansas City, MO … May 10-13.  (No, you don’t have to be a member of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association to attend.)

NRECA consistently offers an outstanding conference, covering a wide range of communication topics:

*  Integrating Social Media into Organizational Communications

*  Communicating through Crisis

*  How to Use Social Media to Save Your Marketing Dollars

*  All Politics is Local:  Our Energy, Our Future

*  Leading a Culture of Service Excellence

I’ll be offering two sessions:

*  Persuasion:  How to Turn a “No” into a “Yes” … or at Least a “Maybe”

*  Advanced Speechwriting

Some good news from Marian Calabro, who has attended several of my speechwriting programs …

As President of CorporateHistory.net, Marian has received an assignment to write a 100-year chronicle of The Clorox Company.

She says that speechwriting techniques have a definite place in the company history books and DVDs her firm produces. “Your history is a stranded asset until you put it to work,” she says. “Then, like a good speech, it gives you a powerful way to connect with your audiences. It builds marketing, community relations, and employee pride.”

Just as important: In tough times, history helps to stretch an organization’s marketing dollar to the max. “Your stories and images belong only to you,” Marian notes. “Once you mine them, they’re inexpensive to use. And you can recycle them in creative ways across all kinds of media.”  

I’ve received several inquiries about reference materials for commencement speeches. 

Looking for interesting trivia about colleges/universities?  Nothing beats PILED HIGHER AND DEEPER: THE FOLKLORE OF CAMPUS LIFE (written by Simon J. Bronner, published by August House, Little Rock, Arkansas). 

This book provides outstanding references, plus a detailed index. 

Sections cover a wide range, including:  Final exams … Absent-minded professors … Revealing graffiti … Crib sheets and blue book scams … Greek life …  Homecoming … Tormenting the Faculty … Studying, and other games … Sports … and (of course) Graduation. 

May and June are prime graduation months … which means they’re prime months for commencement speeches.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be posting information for speechwriters who have to tackle a commencement address.

To get started:  Read the ”Commencement” chapter in CAN YOU SAY A FEW WORDS? (St. Martin’s Press, 2006).   

Someone who recently attended one of my speechwriting seminars emailed to ask if I could recommend a book of quotations about the United States.  I can.

If your speaker travels throughout the US to give presentations, you’ll want to get a copy of AMERICAN THE QUOTABLE, by Mike Edelhart and James Tinen (Facts on File Publications). 

Part 1 covers AMERICA, with outstanding sections on: the nation … people … way of life … politics … and history.

Part 2 covers THE STATES, CITIES AND REGIONS.  Need to connect with an audience in Charleston SC … Las Vegas NV … San Antonio TX … Tulsa OK … Winston-Salem NC … Elmira NY … or any other location in the US?  You’ll find great quotes about the area (and about the area’s landmarks).

This is an outstanding resource for any speechwriter.